🏔️ 🥾 Alternative to Dolomites (& cheaper too?)

Remember this?

Move Over Dolomites/𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘻𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥/10001 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

Meet - the 𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨

Legends say they're named that because Slavic soldiers had difficulties passing through the mountain range 🏔️

I too had difficulties 😩😩😩 But we made it to the summit shivering like soaked rats, albeit the strenuous last stretch and looming thunderstorms nearby,

To a 360° view of Albanian Alps on one side, and Montenegro on the other.

🌄 This is the 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗮 𝗘 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁/𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗻𝗶 𝗣𝗲𝗮𝗸 trek! It's a little-known hike (I mean, Albania is relatively little-known in general) in Valbona, a mountainous region in Northern Albania. We basically had the whole trail to ourselves (+a few other scattered hikers). It can be done in a day, but would highly recommend camping for a night (free w/o need for permits/reservations I think!!) if you have the know-how to wildcamp.

𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗶𝗻: ~1500m

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: 2524m

𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌠⭐️🌠✴️🌟🤩✨

𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁: Absolutely free

Only the transport to Valbone which I'll cover in another post - you do NOT need a guide for this (and for most moderate difficulty hikes tbh...)

𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆: 4/5

I wouldn't say it's for beginners but if I managed to do it, you probably can too. Probably easier than Rinjani LOL (I've never trekked Rinjani cos $$$ & laez train but heard it's a killer)

Think the steep part of Gunung Datuk in the last 1h stretch when you're already mildly tired from climbing 3h up Bukit Kutu 🤪

𝗚𝗲𝗮𝗿: The usual, I hiked them in my <$20 Decath shoes LOL

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆:

Probably camp overnight near the summit instead, so I have more time to enjoy the landscapes # "reAL bAckPacking" according to the angmohs .-.

I'll dive into the costs in another future post, but in general the Balkans is a relatively affordable travel destination.

P.S Did you know that the Balkans were named that because it means "mountains" in Turkish? (Turkish probably cos ottoman empire and stuff like that - their history runs long and deep)

Other stuff related to hiking/gear/Balkans:

🎒 Backpacking hidden gems of Europe

🥾 Best Budget hiking boots <$20

✨ Best mid-range all round travelling/hiking sandals

❌ Worst hiking experience in India LOL

✅ Best bAckPacking/Camping experience in Yosemite

#hiking #travel #CheapButGood #budgetfriendly #hiddengem